The Vault of Kings

by Matt Taylor

  “Sylas… this is incredible. What happened?” Geode stammered, still flabbergasted at what he was witnessing.

  “I’m not really sure…” Sylas replied. He explained to Geode the feelings and images that he had shared with Sky and the weird bond that they now seemed to share.

  “Sky…” Geode responded, “That is a beautiful name, fitting for a moon fox too. I think I might know what happened between you. Although the event is fairly rare… and it’s even more amazing to have happened with a creature as rare and elusive as a moon fox. It must be partially to her having such a broken spirit from the tragedies she has faced recently, her young age, and the curiosity of sensing you. I’ve heard and read that sometimes, when one is very fortunate, there’s a chance that when communicating with an animal, an event can take place, which some like to call ‘Animal Companion’. It can only take place when intimate feelings are shared between the mage and an animal. We still aren’t sure exactly how it works. All we know is that once you have been bonded with your animal companion, you can share memories, sights, sounds, emotions, and senses with your animal companion, even over great distances. It’s a very special spell that not many people have the privilege of enjoying, you should consider yourself very blessed, especially with the kind of animal you have bonded with. Very few are fortunate to even see a moon fox in their lifetime, let alone be bonded to one. It’s very special, indeed.”

  Sylas smiled as he looked down at his new companion, grateful for all that had just happened.

  “Do I have to have my second mind open every time I want to talk to her, though? I wish that I could just speak and listen and that we could understand each other.”

  Geode sighed. “Unfortunately, she will always speak a language foreign to you, and you will always speak human. However, I do have good news for you. There is a way to enchant spells onto items so that they can carry charges of a particular spell. Most mages use them as offensive or defensive tools for emergency situations, such as putting a shield spell into a ring or a fire blast spell into a staff or amulet, so that you can use them without having to open your second mind. I’m not skilled enough to enchant an item with a spell as advanced as speak with animals, but I imagine that we’ll find someone in Gelendor that will be. We can seek out someone who can do this for you while we are there so that you can speak with Sky much more easily. Once the item has been enchanted, you will be able to refill its charges yourself as this is much less complicated of a task.”

  Sylas about jumped for joy. “That would be amazing! Yes, please, we need to make sure we do that as soon as possible.”

  Geode smiled. “It would be my pleasure to help you with this task. You have done very well tonight, and I think we may have found a successful ground spy for your part of the mission tomorrow if Sky is willing to participate.”

  Sylas looked down at his new companion Sky, a loving smile crossing his lips. “Yes, I believe we have.”

  chapter 10

  Gelendor

  Sylas slept exceptionally well that night. Sky accompanied him in his tent and slept curled up beside him as they helped to keep each other warm through the night. It was a powerful connection that he had gained with Sky, something that he didn’t know he was missing before, but now that he had it could see the hole that it filled within him and his love for her continued to grow as they spent more time together. Before going to bed that night, Sylas had to reopen his second mind so that he could communicate with her again as he introduced her to the rest of the group. Torren and Samara were both flabbergasted that a creature like Sky even existed, and Uthren was just as much, if not more impressed that he had bonded to a moon fox. Samara couldn’t wipe the smile off her face at how cute she was and continued to tell Sylas to make sure Sky knew how cute Samara thought she was. He was glad that everyone accepted her as a part of their group, and they each committed to watch after her if danger ever came upon them again.

  The next morning everyone arose early, packed up their belongings, and headed down the hill towards Gelendor. Sky walked by Sylas as they traveled through the dark, ready to turn invisible at any sign of trouble. Geode had arisen particularly early and had found several earthworms, along with a hungry bluebird that agreed to help him with his part of the scouting mission in exchange for the worms.

  As they continued to get closer and closer to Gelendor, the plan for what needed to happen to ensure their safe entrance into the city was discussed again amongst themselves and their animal helpers.

  “Remember, the most important things are that we know that no one is waiting for us outside the walls where we’ll need to be for the teleport and that when we teleport, we have an accurate description of where it is and that it’s safe to go there, “Uthren explained. “Sky will be in charge of making sure there’s no one outside the gate, and the bluebird will be in charge of finding a safe place within the city.”

  After reaching their intended waiting destination and explaining several times in as simple of terms as possible what this meant for their unnamed blue bird spy and having it repeat back to them what was required, Geode was confident that it would be able to sufficiently perform its duties.

  Sylas reminded Sky to be careful, stay invisible, and that after she was done scouting to come right back and that they would wait for her return, then they were sent on their missions.

  While waiting for their animal scouts to perform their missions, Geode and Uthren quietly discussed their plans for after they got into the city successfully, and Geode explained more to Sylas about the animal companion spell that he had achieved with Sky.

  “Because of the Magick connection that you made with Sky, you have unlocked a special technique that can be performed with her over long distances. When you open your second mind and then desire your senses to be connected with hers, you will be able to feel what she feels, see what she sees, and communicate with her as if she was nearby. This connection can be used over vast distances and is extremely useful, especially for times like this. I want you to go ahead and try this connection now.”

  Sylas nodded, then made the symbol of Nature and opened his second mind. He collected his thoughts and aligned his desired to connect with Sky.

  He felt his inner life flowing through his body as the Magick connected him with all of the nature around him. He felt as if his conscience was flowing freely with the wind until he felt the presence of his companion. He felt her running through the tall grass, the cold air rushing past her face. Her vision slowly took over the vision of his second mind as he continued to will her senses to become one with his own. Sylas could now see what was in front of his physical body, as well as what Sky saw with his second mind, but his second mind no longer had its third-person view over himself like it usually did.

  Testing the telepathic portion of the spell, Sylas quietly asked, “Sky, can you hear me?”

  Sylas watched through her eyes as she jumped off the ground and twisted backward in the air. He felt as her heart began pumping faster and heard her respond, “Where are you? You scared me!”

  Sylas apologized and explained what Geode had taught him about their special connection.

  “Well, don’t scare me next time!”

  “Sorry, have you seen any humans yet?”

  “Not yet. Still looking.”

  Sky turned back towards Gelendor and continued running towards the city. Her head turned from side to side as she surveyed the area around her.

  Sylas was surprised at how well she could see in the dark. It made sense, he didn’t realize it before, but now that he had shared his thoughts with her and vise-versa, he had learned that all foxes were primarily nocturnal, not just moon foxes. Also, her bright glowing eyes gave her a considerable advantage at seeing well in the dark. Through her vision, it almost looked like it was just a slightly foggy rather than the middle of the night.

  Sky continued to run through the grass, climbing the occasional tree to get a higher look or stop suddenly and look around f
or any signs of movement, then continue running until she reached the outer wall of the city. Arriving at the wall, she asked, “Are you still there?”

  “Yes, I didn’t see anyone through your eyes, did you?”

  “No.”

  “As far as I can tell, I think we are good then. Unless the bluebird has seen anything from the air. Make your way back to me, and I’ll tell the others.”

  Sylas closed his second mind and returned his attention to the others. “Sky didn’t see or hear anyone. I think that we alright to move forward as soon as she gets back.”

  “That‘s good news,” Uthren said, letting out a sigh of relief. “Still, we should proceed with caution. Geode, how long do you think until the bird gets back?”

  “Maybe just a few more minutes. She’s quite fast because of her flight, but I don’t share a connection with her like that of Sylas, so I can only guess,” he responded.

  Curious, Sylas turned toward Torren and Samara and asked, “Did you guys know that foxes are nocturnal?”

  Torren shook his head as Samara nodded, then Torren seeing Samara nodding took the back and forth motion from shaking his head, and corrected it to a nod. His facial expression also changed from an “I had no idea!” look to a “Are you dumb? Everyone knows that” look. Sylas and Samara quietly laughed, and Torren just shrugged his shoulders and issued an innocent “What?”

  Several more minutes passed until Sky finally found her way back to Sylas. He made the symbol of Nature, opened his second mind, and then connected to himself to her. “See anything on the way back?”

  “No, nothing out of the ordinary.” She responded.

  “Good, we should be pretty safe then, thanks for doing that.”

  They waited a few moments longer until Geode made the symbol of Nature, then after opening his second mind, reached his hand up and caught the bluebird who had just returned on his finger. He stood, staring at the bird for several minutes, obviously having a conversation about what she had to report. Then reaching into the small bag, he had placed the worms in, pulled out two large earthworms, and placed them in the bird’s open beak. She clamped down on the worms, then took flight.

  “She saw no activity, either. She also told me that there’s a clear spot that we can teleport into just to the west of the main gate. There aren’t many people up yet, so if we go soon, we won’t have to worry about running into anyone.”

  Uthren thought for a moment and then replied, “I guess since there seems to be no one here, there isn’t any reason why we can’t just go now. Initially, I didn’t want the chance of anyone seeing the pillar of Light that would pick us up and drop us off and wanted to wait until it wasn’t so dark to make our move, but now I don’t think it’s that big of an issue. Maelos has probably guessed where we are headed already anyway, so I think we might as well go now if there is no one here to intercept us. Let’s move forward cautiously, then as soon as we are close enough, describe to me exactly where it is that we need to go.”

  They walked cautiously and silently towards the city, watchful for any surprises lurking around the trees or in the darkness. Finally, the tenseness was brought to a halt when Uthren notified them that they were close enough to do the teleport.

  Geode spent a couple of minutes describing to Uthren where they needed to teleport to. He had lived in Gelendor for a long time but needed the bird to be sure that things hadn’t changed too much since he had been away so that they could land in a clear area.

  The sun was now peeking just over the horizon, making the area around them visible enough to see a fair distance. Sylas was sure that the bright light that was going to engulf them during the teleport would still be able to be seen from a far distance but trusted that it would be alright.

  After finishing his explanation, Uthren nodded, then made the symbol of Light and opened his second mind. His eyes and hands glowed brightly, and he motioned for everyone to join hands. Sylas picked up Sky and placed her on his shoulder, then joined his hands in the group.

  “Everyone ready? Remember, if anyone confronts us after we have entered the city, let Geode and I do the talking.”

  After seeing confirmed nods of compliance, Uthren focused the Light Magick, and a bright pillar of Light descended from the heavens and engulfed them in Light. Half a second later, the Light disappeared with a flash, and they found themselves standing within the walls of the city.

  As the Light dissipated, Sylas looked around at his surroundings in awe. The city walls behind him were massively tall, taller than any building that he had ever seen, until now at least. He gazed at several buildings towards the center of the city that climbed high into the air, defying what he thought possible.

  Most of the buildings were built differently than what he was used to seeing as well. Instead of logs and some stone, almost every structure he could see was made out of stone, but looked to have been raised from the ground using Nature Magick. Several other buildings were built into massive trees with trunks that could have fit several buildings within their enormous girth. The entirety of what he could see within the city looked to have been made using Nature Magick. The roads and walkways were smooth flattened rock, massive trees with their extended branches held up shops, homes, and other buildings, and the walls around the city looked as if they had been cut and raised straight from the ground.

  “Welcome to Gelendor,” Geode said with a smile.

  Sylas looked at Samara and Torren, who were just as awestruck by the place as he was. Even though their entrance would have been noticeable for miles due to the giant flash of Light that they made with their teleport, it was early enough in the morning that no one was out and about their business just yet.

  “It looks like so far we haven’t been noticed. We should head towards the center of the city. There we will find the Great Tree of Gelendor, and we can petition to talk to Nydria,” Uthren said.

  They all walked together towards the center of the city, Torren, Samara, and Sylas, all in amazement at the size and architecture that was displayed throughout. If Sylas didn’t know any better, he would have thought that an entirely different race of people lived here, a race of tree-dwellers that saw Magick as a regular occurrence rather than a rare commodity.

  The cityscape continued to amaze him as they approached the center of the city. Eventually, people started coming out of their houses and opening their places of business or starting their workday. It was almost a surprise when he saw that they were indeed all human like himself. The one thing that did set them apart from what he was used to seeing was that everyone there wore similar clothing. The men had dark green trousers and a lighter green shirt with varying lengths of sleeves, their boots also had a slight hue of green to them. The women wore dresses that matched the light green color of the men’s shirts, many of which had long flowing sleeves with a white stripe that ran down them. Other women had the same type of dress, but they stopped further above the ankle and had shorter sleeves that hugged their arms instead of flowing freely. Sylas guessed that these dresses were more for working, while the others were for show.

  They continued onward through the city, Sylas matching his gaze with that of the confused onlookers as the sun continued to rise, shedding its light upon the city and bringing more and more people out into the streets until Torren tapped him on the shoulder.

  “Sylas… Look at that massive tree!”

  Sylas looked forward, and his jaw dropped when his eyes caught sight of the spectacle in front of him. All of the trees in Gelendor were massive, massive enough to house buildings and homes sufficiently large to contain several families. Vines and wooden bridges were strewn between the trees connecting them to one another in an impressive display. The tree in front of him, put those trees to shame.

  The tree sat in the center of a massive fissure in the ground that separated one side of the city from the other. Its roots extended into the abyss, where they eventually disappeared into a foggy mist caused by several waterfalls that fell from
the top of the fissure behind and to the sides of the tree into the chasm below. A large stone bridge with intricately designed railing and archways connected the tree to the walkable land.

  Sylas thought that surely, this tree had to be the most massive living thing on the planet. It had branches that stretched upward into the sky with thousands of abnormally sized leaves clinging to them. Towards the base of the tree, level with the stone bridge, a massive wooden door marked the entrance into the living shelter. Intricately designed wooden planks, along with naturally occurring branches and vines, curled themselves upward from the door, forming several balconies and rooftops. Large windows could also be seen, built into the trunk of the mighty tree, their glass covered with a constant fog from the roaring water and rising steam.

  It looked like a castle, a castle that had been built into the still-living tree. The dwarfed trees and other foliage that sat on the edges of the fissure seemed to lean in towards the massive tree, aspiring in vain to one day be as great as it was.

  “How is it possible for one tree to be so big?” Samara asked in amazement, echoing the very thoughts that were running through Sylas’s head.

  “This tree is even older than the knowledge of Magick itself,” Geode responded. “When Nymphara obtained the knowledge of Nature Magick, she and her followers poured their Magick into this already ancient tree, helping it to grow at a tremendous rate and shaping the land around it to make this kingdom. As she was the first to learn Nature Magick, Nymphara was one of the original Kings; she became the queen of Gelendor, and this tree became her palace.”

  Geode gestured for them to follow him towards the great gate that hung at the beginning of the long stone bridge as he continued.

  “Magick is sung into the tree daily, to keep it alive and flourishing. The technique of singing Magick into living things to enhance their growth and life has been passed down from Nymphara through the royal family, and queen Nydria keeps the tradition going today.”